Our Verdict
Superb TV overall. The Sony A1E OLED TV will please just about everyone with its picture quality and features.
- Perfect blacks
- Exceptional motion performance
- Striking design
- Input lag could be better
- Screen is at an incline
Terrific TV for movies. Blacks are as pure as can be thanks to OLED's ability to shut off individual pixels. This leads to a picture with depth that is unmatched by LED TVs.
The Sony A1E is great for watching TV shows. It handles reflections very well and upscaling of lower resolution content is as good as it gets. It could be a bit brighter though.
Very good TV for watching sports. The A1E has excellent motion and a very uniform screen. Games can be enjoyed from every angle as well.
The A1E is a great TV for video games. Input lag is low with a 4k input, and motion is excellent. Combined with the great picture quality, it makes for an immersive experience. Motion can also be enhanced by using the flickering feature.
Superb HDR performance. The A1E can reproduce a wide gamut of colors, and HDR movies are displayed with smooth gradients. It can get highlights bright enough to get a nice effect as well.
Remarkable HDR gaming capabilities. Input lag is not affected by an HDR input, and the picture quality and wide color gamut makes HDR games look great.
Excellent PC monitor. Text is crisp, mouse movements feel responsive and moving content and pages do not leave trails. The A1E also supports a 1080p 120hz input which is great.
Changelog
- Updated Oct 03, 2018: Retested the brightness after firmware PKG6.5629.0177NAA. The most significant change is that the TV's dimming over time is now more aggressive, sometimes dimming after just one minute of static content. The measurements have been updated, but the overall scores didn't change significantly. You can read more here.
- Updated Jun 12, 2018: A note for Xbox One X and Xbox One S owners: 1080p @ 120 Hz from the Xbox is only supported on this TV when the Xbox's connection type is changed from Auto-detect (Recommended) to HDMI, but unfortunately in this mode 4k and HDR aren't supported.
- Updated Mar 12, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Jan 23, 2018: High-end Sony TVs have now been updated with Dolby Vision through a firmware update (PKG6.2818.0075NAA). The input section has been updated.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 55" (XBR55A1E). For the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 65" (XBR65A1E) and 77" (XBR77A1E).
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Sony XBR-55A1E doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review. Note that some tests such as the gray uniformity may vary between individual units.
| Size | US Model | Alternative Name | EU Model |
| 55" | XBR55A1E | XBR-55A1E | KD-55A1 |
| 65" | XBR65A1E | XBR-65A1E | KD-65A1 |
| 77" | XBR77A1E | XBR-77A1E | KD-77A1 |
Popular TV Comparisons
The Sony A1E is an excellent OLED TV with some of the best picture quality available, but it faces some competition in its price range from both LED and OLED TVs. See our recommendations for the best TVs.
The Sony A9F OLED is slightly better than the Sony A1E OLED. The A9F has slightly better picture quality, thanks to higher peak brightness and better color volume. The A9F has much better input lag with a 1080p source, and all four HDMI ports support the full bandwidth of HDMI 2.0. The A9F also has a faster smart interface thanks to a newer version of Android TV OS and a newer chipset.
The overall performance of the Sony A8F OLED and the Sony A1E OLED is very similar. There is no significant difference between the two, beyond the design. The Sony A1E has a larger stand that could cause issues for some people, while the A8F has a more common stand design.
The Sony A1E OLED is marginally better than the LG C7 OLED. The Sony A1E has an optional Black Frame Insertion feature that can improve the clarity of motion. The LG C7 doesn't support Black Frame Insertion, but it has much better (lower) input lag, great for gaming.
If you watch a lot of movies or have a wide seating arrangement, then the Sony A1E OLED is a better choice, but if you plan to use the TV as a PC monitor or watch a lot of content with static banners or logos like news, then the Sony Z9D is a better choice. The Sony A1E has an OLED panel and can display perfect blacks, which is great for movies and HDR content. The Sony A1E also has an instantaneous response time, which is excellent for playing video games. The Sony Z9D, however, is a better option if you are worried about the permanent burn-in risk.
We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests use specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.
Test Results
Older Test Bench: This product has been tested using an older TV test methodology, before a major update. Some of the test results below aren't directly comparable with other TVs. Learn more
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